Dexter Filkins reports in the New York Times that part of Obama’s new Afghanistan policy is an emphasis on curtailing Taliban profits from the opium trade. To do this, US commanders have authorization to attempt to take control of the opium-heavy growing regions of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul Provinces. I could not discern whether a systematic plan was in place to destroy the actual poppy fields. Instead it appears the influx of US troops will be used to try to dislodge the Taliban from the poppy fields and then provide sustained security for the local population. A ‘Take and Hold’ strategy.
The reason for this policy is rather straightforward; the Taliban get most of their money from the opium market and use this windfall to finance their insurgency. If the US could somehow seriously cut into their profits, the Taliban could be severely weakened. “Opium is their financial engine,” said Brig. Gen. John Nicholson, the deputy commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the US will likely fight this battle without NATO help as the ISAF has a policy of poppy cultivation and cultivators as being ‘non-combatants.’
A US military emphasis on taking away the Taliban’s poppy power has serious challenges. First off, the Taliban are very much aware how much the opium provides for their efforts and have already shown they will fight, fight, and fight to defend them. The US military will be going into areas of Afghanistan where they have little logistical and civilian support, in other words, they are venturing into part of the enemy’s heart. Speaking of civilians, though the Taliban are the ones who profit most from these poppies, there are civilians, most of them in fact, in these regions that right now depend on the sell of the poppies for their livelihood. The US has about $450 to help them build roads, irrigation systems, and move to wheat or other crops, but for this money to get to work they would need some kind of stable situation, something the Taliban is loath to give them, even if they have lost ground.
This is an ambitious, and probably necessary, policy for the US military mission in Afghanistan, but it will face a fierce opposition. Of course, the fact that it will face a fierce opposition may tell you that it is the right move.
(Photo: NYT)
